Does Television Affect Social Interaction? Essay

1084 words - 4 pages

A major research concern for behavioral psychologists and sociologists today circles an integral part of the American family routine and life. Something that has become so inset into homes that it would be rare to find one without it. Research has shown a hidden danger lurking in our homes, and the origin may surprise you. Television has been around since the early 1950’s but behaviorists have just recently begun to start studying the effects these machines may have on children, social interaction and families. Research has begun to show negative consequences of television on children’s development and socialization proving that it does reduce and affect social interaction.
Television, the dancing pixels behind a glass screen that have entranced many a youth since its mainstream release in the 1950’s, has evolved into an entity of its own. Most homes have at least one television; many have two or more. In fact, 98.2% of all homes in the United States have television sets, with most people owning 2.4 sets (Tischler 2007). How has this affected family life, social interaction and even self-image? Researchers have begun to work at answering these questions and have produced some startling results. Statistically, people today have become more isolated from the world by reducing their interactions with real life relationships. Social disengagement is on the rise with fewer people voting, attending church, volunteering and getting together less (Kraut 1998, Tischler 2007). Social disengagement has negative consequences for both societies and individuals with individual’s health and quality of life suffering, and crime rates, political involvement and civic life being affected negatively in societies (Kraut 1998). Internet also plays a role in this data, bringing a new field of information into consideration. Today, forty-one percent of all television is now viewed online, on a phone, on Dvds or recorded to watch later (using DVRs or Tivo) (Boyse 2010). This takes away important socialization time for children and young adults by eating into their free time that could be used for socialization and interactions between peers, family, or social groups/clubs. Television also interferes with the natural socialization process of child development. It has become such a staple in homes that many parents or babysitters will just place a child in front of the television to keep them quiet and entertained. This can affect the normal socialization process in which children require interaction, physical and verbal, with friends, peers and parents (Boyse 2010). Abnormal interaction or lack thereof can create physical and mental difficulties in a child with slower learning rates/learning disabilities and health problems being the most prevalent consequences (Tischler 2007).
Television doesn’t just affect children, it also affects teenagers and young adults, but more so their self-identity and self-esteem than physical development. Television sends messages to...

3507 words - 14 pages
interests of our class, then we are likely to vote Labour in the general election. Since the 1970s, explanations of deviant voting have been more than ever called for. Voters are no longer so tied to the two-party model of part competition. The level of partisanship (voters who are loyal to a particular party) declined dramatically.Before starting to discuss the extent to which social class continues to affect voting behaviour in Britain, I will

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Participants
The purpose of this proposal is to examine how alcohol consumptions affect social attention. Participants will be undergraduate students at Northern Arizona University, primarily students who are in the Psychology department and will be the primary population for this research. This research will involve two groups of participants. The first group of participants will be made up of people who do not drink alcohol while the other

1499 words - 6 pages
make an assumption but when you meet them in real life you might realize that the conversation does not flow as easily as it did on twitter or facebook.
Social Media whether good or bad for our society is something that is not going away anytime soon, so meanwhile it’s something we need to get used to. Society needs to learn to adapt to it, however they shouldn’t become consumed by it because we still need our interpersonal skills when it comes

2107 words - 9 pages
academic journal, and an ample amount of statistical information, which would allow the effect sizes to be calculated.
After the data was analyzed, it was found that significant behavior improvements and had more positive attitudes than those who didn’t. This is counter to the old addage that television is bad for young people. On the contrary, the results suggest that television can actually aid in the positive social interaction of children

2229 words - 9 pages
interaction and also had scored lower on mental health evaluations in terms of their overall mental health. These studies have shown that its not only what one may watch that can affect them , but the entire action, or lack of action, when watching television that is the main contributor to their poor mental health.
This inaction does not only play a hand in the destruction of the mind but that of the body as well. In a study conducted by Rebecca

4605 words - 18 pages
itself has impinged on our cognitive senses altering our view of the world, changing reality. Technology created, caused effects and society adapted accordingly; contrary to this belief is the idea of how television produced out of a social process and legitimized itself in the same fashion.The first assumption of Class B hones in on the concept of the effects of news and entertainment; it conjectures that it does that and touches upon some

1015 words - 4 pages
TV Trash: Bag It Has television become more violent and vulgar? Yes. How does this affect America? More importantly, how does it affect America's children? The violence and vulgarity of American television affects Americans and their children in many ways, none of which are good or beneficial. In its entirety, violence and vulgarity on television is detrimental to American society, especially children.Television has become much more

2507 words - 10 pages
most cases are selective viewers. Television does not dominate children’s lives. Children often mix together television viewing with other activities such as playing, talking and reading. Also a good deal of children’s television such as Rugrats, Bear in the big blue house and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles often contain pro-social messages combined with a strong moral stance in a humorous context. For example, the cartoon series Captain Planet and

2984 words - 12 pages
can turn off the process that transforms children into people." (Winn, p. 7) It's important for a child to interact with it's parents, for the development of the socialization of the child. The child needs it's parents there to learn from and talk to, in order to develop. With television, its occupies the family's time giving them les time fro interaction with each other. While watching TV, a person directs it's attention towards the program, and

1994 words - 8 pages
does not directly relate to the actual content of television, rather, the study explains the effects of children not having enough social interaction with family. Television hinders the amount of interaction between the young child and the parents. This limited interaction can cause the child to lash out for attention.
Although many would agree with the fact that children should not be exposed to violent media, some people may have some

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Works Cited
"How Does Social Networking Affect to Lifestyle of Teenagers?" HubPages. Simply Aide, 21 Mar. 2014. Web. 15 May 2014.
"Membership." Educational Leadership:Teaching for the 21st Century:21st Century Skills: The